Thought leadership in action; Roger Baumgart attends G8 Summit

Thought leadership in action; Roger Baumgart attends G8 Summit

Roger Baumgart participated in the G8 Dementia Summit in London on December 11, 2013. The Group of Eight (G8) is an economic and political organization designed to encourage discussion and effect change among the world's most powerful nations - Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Leaders of the G8 meet annually to discuss the state of world economics and politics.

The 2013 G8 Dementia Summit, hosted by Prime Minister David Cameron and the UK Department of Health, brought together G8 ministers, researchers, pharmaceutical companies, private industry and charities from around the world to develop a coordinated global action plan to address the challenges created by dementia.

Roger was invited to submit comments prior to the Summit on behalf of the Home Instead Senior Care network.His comments included:

Home- & community-based care is an essential component – These are the only affordable and achievable options to meet the inescapable and overwhelming challenge of caring for people with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Equipping & supporting family caregivers is paramount – As the burden of care shifts to the home, the world must develop strategies to empower family caregivers.

Modifications to public policy and the care continuum are required – Achieving a reasonable integration of home-based care into the comprehensive care model will require fundamental adjustments.

During the Summit, moderator/BBC reporter Vivienne Parry invited Roger to comment on the innovative care model at Home Instead.

The G8 Dementia Summit concluded with the publication of a declaration and communique of the agreements reached at the summit. The declaration is a commitment made by the G8 to build an international effort to approach the problem of dementia together. G8 countries agreed to:

identify a cure, or a disease-modifying therapy, for dementia by 2025 significantly increase the amount spent on dementia research

increase the number of people involved in clinical trials and studies on dementia

establish a new global envoy for dementia innovation, following in the footsteps of global envoys on HIV/AIDS and climate change

develop an international action plan for research

share information and data from dementia research studies across the G8 countries to get the best return on investment

encourage open access to all publicly-funded dementia research to make data and results available as quickly as possible.

The communique sets out more information on future plans, including three events planned for 2014 and one in 2015.

Roger also represented the Home Instead Senior Care network and the Global Coalition on Ageingat a roundtable discussion titled Catalyzing the Landmark G8 Commitment, hosted by the Global CEO Initiative on Alzheimer’s Disease (CEOi), to build on the outcomes of the G8 Summit on Dementia.

Next steps for 2014
Roger will continue to lead the network’s participation in G8 and CEOi activities in 2014 and 2015, including attending workshops focused on care delivery and innovations in financing. Home Instead, Inc. agreed to serve as the lead CEOi member to develop the concept of “Care Delivery Innovation.”